change of bit?

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hannah87

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hi guys, ok - so ive been working v hard to improve my horse on the flat - we bought him he was 10 and had never done any work on the bit - so it has been a difficult struggle as he has a slight ewe neck and after 10 years going along like a girraffe only on hacks he was incredibly difficult to school on the flat. however, we are now at the point of working reasonably consistantly in an outline in walk, to working trot and back up. he has active paces and tracks up well. in canter , he has a nice rythm but i cant seem to get him round - he does lovely transitions from walk to canter but head comes up and he hollows slightly. he is hard work altho as now has right muscles nothing like he used to be but still finds working in an outline difficult. i ride him in an eggbutt snaffle and flash, no martingale - i just wondered if anyone had any ideas of a possible change of bit - as in canter he can be strong and therefore when im jumping him for turning etc it can be a mission as hes a big horse. any one know of any good bits for encouraging roundness and softness etc?and also any excersices for his canter?thanks
 
A drop snaffle might help? It just gives a lil extra poll pressure and is dressage legal.
As for turning problems a bit with full cheeks can help without the bit getting too much stronger in the mouth
 
i have always had problems with belles canter, similar to yours. i bought a hanging cheek snaffle and i think its brill. has started to become a lot more rounded and responsive in her canter. i always swap my bits round a lot so she doesn't get to used to one or the other... it stops her from getting set in her ways. I even use an english hackamore now and again.

borrowed a mild myler bit and she hated it.

the best thing to do is to look at the anatomy of you horses mouth and work out what actions etc will suit your horse best... belle usually goes best with a bit of poll pressure. Experementing is usually the only way you will find out what works... and maybe you can borrow a friends bit (if it fits), to make it less expensive and have a play round!
 
i'd put him in a single-joint fulmer snaffle with keepers on the cheekpieces to hold the bit upright. this gives a little poll pressure to give the idea of softening at the poll and rounding. i'd put a drop noseband with it, not a flash... a drop doesn't have to be tight to be effective, as long as it's fitted correctly (4 fingers above top of nostril)
exercises to improve canter... spiralling in and out on a circle, shoulder-in to canter, leg yield to canter, sending on and bringing back in the canter, for starters!
hope this helps a bit!
 
Kerilli's method definitely does work - helped OH's mare out at the weekend and he's been singing her praises ever since - mare is 14yo and never been asked to go round until around a year ago and it's been a battle since then
 
I'll let Kerelli explain - I'd never used one before nor had OH but on both horses (mine works medium level dressage) her method worked
confused.gif
 
why a drop nose band? my trainer's a devotee of them, he's very old-school classical, German but more French school, trained with Neuendorff. this combination, fulmer cheek single-joint snaffle + drop noseband, is all he will allow me to use (on every horse), until we progress to double bridles.
the reason for the drop is that it doesn't have to be tight in order to be effective, unlike Flash and Grackle nosebands. if you have a tight noseband (including a cavesson) the horse will stiffen its jaw against it, creating tension and resistance. the drop, correctly fitted (4 fingers above top of nostrils, definitely no lower) can then be loose enough to have 1 or 2 fingers in the strap under the horse's chin, and still be totally effective.
now i use this combo on every horse, concentrate on using them correctly - a still, passive, light, constant inside hand (because the inside hand acts like a handbrake on the inside hind leg), and engage with inside leg to outside hand, which is used to send messages to horse's mouth (you should always move only 1 hand at a time when using a snaffle, leaving the other side of the bit still to make the aid clear to the horse), and wait for it to work...which it invariably does.
much easier than the eternal quest for the "key to this horse's mouth" desperate search for the magic bit, which costs £££s, months, and tons of confusion, imho.
PM me if i haven't explained it very well!
 
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